McLaren driver Jenson Button had to ditch his upgraded Honda engine due to an oil leak, he was thus forced to revert to an older spec engine during the first day of free practice for the Canadian Grand Prix.
During FP1 Button’s McLaren was engulfed with smoke as he left the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve pitlane, forcing him to return to the pit garage whereupon the team changed engines before the afternoon session.
Button explained, “We put the old engine back in and we had no issues with how it was running. The guys did an amazing job.”
“We just have to decide tonight [Friday] what engine we use tomorrow. Whether it’s the one we put in on Friday or the engine we’ve used for the last few races, but I think either way it will be fine.”
Button finished seventh in FP2 and spoke to media afterwards, “I said before that people were going to be a little bit surprised at our performance here – we weren’t going to be any worse than Monaco.”
“It is very close in the middle of the pack. If I went half a tenth quicker I would’ve been fourth, and two tenths slower I would have been 11th or 12th.”
Asked if Q3 was a realistic target for him, Button replied, “I think so. You have to aim reasonably high and try and get the best qualifying we’ve had all year, and doing it here would be great.”
As for the upgrade to the Honda power unit, which cost them two engine tokens, Button said, “It’s not for outright pace, it’s more for efficiency and it only benefits us in the race.”
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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